Carolyn Peck
Encyclopedia
Carolyn Arlene Peck is an American television sportscaster and former college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....

 coach. She was was the head coach for the women's basketball teams of Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

 and the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

, and also the first head coach-general manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...

 in the history of the WNBA
Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association...

's Orlando Miracle
Connecticut Sun
The Connecticut Sun is a professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded in Orlando, Florida before the 1999 season began; the team moved to Connecticut before the 2003 season...

. Currently, Peck is a basketball analyst for ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

.

Basketball Player

As a senior in high school, Peck, a 6-4 center, was named Tennessee’s Miss Basketball after averaging 35 points and 13.2 rebounds per game. She played college basketball at Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

 from 1985 to 1988, averaging 10.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. She also blocked 180 shots, to break a Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt Commodores
The Vanderbilt Commodores are the NCAA athletic teams of Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. The university fields 16 varsity teams , 14 of which compete in the Southeastern Conference...

 women’s basketball career record.

Peck graduated from Vanderbilt with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree in communications
Communication studies
Communication Studies is an academic field that deals with processes of communication, commonly defined as the sharing of symbols over distances in space and time. Hence, communication studies encompasses a wide range of topics and contexts ranging from face-to-face conversation to speeches to mass...

 in 1988. She passed up on an opportunity to play professionally in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 to work as a marketing consultant at a Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

 television station, as well as sell pharmaceutical
Pharmaceutical company
The pharmaceutical industry develops, produces, and markets drugs licensed for use as medications. Pharmaceutical companies are allowed to deal in generic and/or brand medications and medical devices...

 products for a Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...

 company for two years.

Peck returned to basketball in 1991, quitting her job to play professionally in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 for three weeks, then for Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

’s Nippondenso Corporation for two years. During her second year in Japan, her team won the league championship.

Assistant coach

Peck’s coaching career began in 1993. She returned to her home state to serve as an assistant coach for the Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...

 Lady Vols
Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
The Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team represents the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee in NCAA women's basketball competition...

 under coach Pat Summitt
Pat Summitt
Patricia "Pat" Head Summitt is an American women's college basketball coach. She is currently the head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team. She is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history of either a men's or women's team in any division...

 for two seasons. The Lady Vols posted 30-win seasons and won the Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

 championship during both seasons: 31–2 in 1993–94, and 34–3 in 1994–95. The latter team lost to the undefeated, Rebecca Lobo
Rebecca Lobo
Rebecca Rose Lobo-Rushin is an American television basketball analyst and a former player in the professional Women's National Basketball Association from 1997 to 2003...

-led Connecticut Huskies
Connecticut Huskies women's basketball
The Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team represents the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut in NCAA women's basketball competition. Under head coach Geno Auriemma, the Huskies have won 7 NCAA Division I national championships, advanced to 12 Final Fours, and won over 30 Big...

 in the NCAA Championship game
1995 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1995 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament featured 64 teams. The Final Four consisted of Connecticut, Tennessee, Stanford, and Georgia...

.

Peck went on to serve as an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky
Kentucky Wildcats
The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky , a founding member of the Southeastern Conference...

 during the 1995–96 season. After this season, she received another assistant coaching job, this time at Purdue University
Purdue Boilermakers Women's Basketball
The Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball team is a college basketball program that competes in NCAA Division I and the Big Ten Conference. Purdue is rich in tradition and history, holding the record for Big Ten Championships, along with being the only program in the conference to boast winning...

 under Nell Fortner
Nell Fortner
Nell Fortner is the current women's college basketball coach at Auburn. She is most well known for leading the 2000 Olympics team to a gold medal. She has received numerous awards including the 1997 National Coach of the Year, the 2000 USA Basketball Coach of the Year and the 2008 SEC Coach of the...

, who had just replaced the fired Lin Dunn
Lin Dunn
Lin Dunn is an American longtime women's basketball coach. She is most known for being the first coach and general manager for the Seattle Storm. She has more than 500 wins to her name....

. The Boilermakers finished 17–11 during the 1996–97 season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament
1997 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament
-Midwest Region:-West Region:-Final Four:E-East; ME-Mideast; MW-Midwest; W-West.- Notes :...

. At the end of this season, Fortner was offered the position of head coach of the USA Women's basketball team for the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

 and was leaving Purdue
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

. She handed over the reins of head coach to Peck, who became Purdue’s third head coach in as many seasons.

Purdue University

During Peck’s first season as head coach (1997–98), Purdue went 23–10 with an Elite Eight appearance. Things appeared to be looking up for the following season; the bulk of the team was returning.

Meanwhile, in April 1998 the young WNBA
Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association...

 announced that it was expanding from ten teams to twelve, with one of the new franchises to be based in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...

. Pat Williams
Pat Williams (NBA)
Pat Williams is a senior vice president of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, a motivational speaker and former minor league baseball player. Williams--born May 3, 1940 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania--was raised in Wilmington, Delaware.-Baseball career:...

, senior executive vice president of the Orlando team-to-be, began his search to find a head coach–general manager. The original list of prospects had six candidates, including Summitt, Duke’s Gail Goestenkors
Gail Goestenkors
Gail Ann Goestenkors , is the women's basketball head coach for The University of Texas, having accepted the position on April 3, 2007, replacing the legendary Jody Conradt. Goestenkors was the Duke University women's basketball head coach from 1992–2007...

 and Florida’s Carol Ross— but not Peck. After all six candidates turned down the offer, Williams then called Peck upon the recommendation of both Ross and Goestenkors. In June 1998 Peck accepted the job with a four-year contract.

Despite accepting this new role, Peck was faced with a dilemma: having to return to Purdue to tell her team that they would once again have to play under a new coach. After she broke the news, some of her players felt betrayed and angry, some of them even telling her so personally. So after struggling with the idea of leaving Purdue after just one season as their coach, Peck again called Williams, asking him if she could remain at Purdue for the 1998–99 season and then go to Orlando for the start of the WNBA season. He granted her request.

In July it was announced that Peck would be the first head coach and general manager of the Orlando team (now named the Miracle
Connecticut Sun
The Connecticut Sun is a professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded in Orlando, Florida before the 1999 season began; the team moved to Connecticut before the 2003 season...

), and coach at Purdue for one last season.

The friction between Peck and her players eased, after the team took a preseason trip to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 for exhibition games. By the start of the season, the team was together, and Peck would neither discuss the fact that she was leaving nor answer any questions about Orlando.

Led by Katie Douglas
Katie Douglas
Kathryn Elizabeth “Katie” Douglas is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever in the WNBA...

, Stephanie White
Stephanie White
Stephanie White-McCarty was a basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association. As an intercollegiate athlete, she was named the winner of the Wade Trophy in 1999, which recognizes the top female basketball player in the nation.White was the 1995 Indiana Miss Basketball and was...

 and Ukari Figgs
Ukari Figgs
Ukari Okien Figgs is a former collegiate and professional basketball player.- High School and College years :...

, the Boilermakers posted a 28–1 record during the regular season, the lone loss coming by one point against Stanford
Stanford Cardinal
The Stanford Cardinal is the nickname of the athletic teams at Stanford University.-Nickname and mascot history:Following its win over Cal in the first-ever Big Game in 1892, the color cardinal was picked as the primary color of Stanford's athletic teams...

. The team won the 1999 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament
1999 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1999 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament began on March 12, 1999 and concluded on March 28, 1999 when Purdue won its first national championship in any women's sport. The Final Four was held at the San Jose Arena in San Jose, California on March 26 - March 28, 1999. Purdue defeated...

 (the first national championship in Purdue women's basketball history; the Purdue men's only basketball title came in 1932), winning all six of its games by at least 10 points, including a 62–45 victory over Duke in the title game. Peck was named Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year by the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

, as well as becoming the first woman and the first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 to win the Winged Foot Award (which honored the best coach in college basketball) from the New York Athletic Club. Two weeks after guiding Purdue to the title, Peck was in Orlando preparing the Miracle for their upcoming season.

To date, Peck is the only African-American to coach a women’s Division I basketball national championship team. The title is also the only one in women’s college basketball by a member of the Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

.

Peck was awarded the US Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Coach of the Year award in 1999.

Orlando Miracle

During Peck’s three seasons as WNBA coach, the Miracle, which featured Shannon Johnson
Shannon Johnson
Shannon Regina Johnson is an American basketball player who last played for the Seattle Storm in the WNBA.-Career:...

, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Nykesha Sales
Nykesha Sales
Nykesha Simone Sales is a former professional basketball player in the WNBA, most recently for the Connecticut Sun. Her primary position is the small forward. Her second position is shooting guard. In 1999 Sales was added to the roster of the USA FIBA Senior National Team team...

 and fellow Vanderbilt graduate Sheri Sam
Sheri Sam
Sheri Lynette Sam is an American professional basketball player currently playing in the WNBA. She was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana on May 5, 1974 as the youngest of eight siblings, and where she was a standout at Acadiana High School. She graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1996...

, posted a 44–52 record, narrowly missing out on the playoffs in 1999 and qualifying for them in 2000, where they lost to the Cleveland Rockers
Cleveland Rockers
This article is about the defunct WNBA team; for the American Basketball Association team, see Cleveland Rockers .The Cleveland Rockers were a Women's National Basketball Association team that played from 1997 until 2003. The Rockers were one of the original eight franchises of the WNBA, which...

 2 games to 1.

University of Florida

On April 3, 2002, Peck returned to coaching college basketball, this time at the University of Florida
Florida Gators women's basketball
The Florida Gators women's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Southeastern Conference...

. On November 15 of that year, she was requested by comedian Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...

 that she introduce him as the headline performer at that year’s Gator Growl, the country’s largest student-run pep rally
Pep rally
Pep rallies are events that occur primarily in the United States and Canada. A pep rally is a gathering of people, typically students of middle school, high school and college age, before a sports event. The purpose of such a gathering is to encourage school spirit and to support members of the...

, which took place at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field is the football stadium for the University of Florida and the home field of the university's Florida Gators football team. It is located on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. The stadium was originally built in 1930, and has been regularly...

. 58,403 people were in attendance as part of University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

 homecoming
Homecoming
Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...

 activities.

During her five seasons at Florida (2002–03 through 2006-07), the Gators posted a 72–75 record with two NCAA tournament berths. The 2003–04 team, which posted a 19–11 record after going 9–19 the season before, was eliminated by Baylor
Baylor Bears
Baylor Bears refers to the sports teams of Baylor University. Baylor's men's sports teams are nicknamed the Bears, and some women's teams are nicknamed the Lady Bears. Student athletes participate in the NCAA's Division I, and Baylor is the only private school in the Big 12 Conference...

 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament
2004 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 2004 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament began on March 20, 2004 and concluded on April 6, 2004 when Connecticut won a third consecutive national championship, becoming only the second school in history to accomplish such a feat. The Final Four was held at the New Orleans Arena in...

, but not before defeating New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...

 in the first round before 16,029 fans at Albuquerque
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...

. The 2005–06 team posted a 21–7 record and received a #6 seed in the NCAA Tournament
2006 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament
-Albuquerque:-Bridgeport:-San Antonio:-Cleveland Regional:-Albuquerque Regional:-Bridgeport Regional:-San Antonio Regional:-Final Four – TD Banknorth Garden :...

, but this time New Mexico got revenge on Florida, defeating them by 24 points in the first round.

The 2006–07 season was a disaster—the Gators suffered through a 14-game losing streak and finished 9–22. Following the losing streak, the University fired Peck in February but allowed her to finish the season as coach. Former University of Florida basketball player Amanda Butler
Amanda Butler
Amanda Butler is an American college basketball coach and former player. Butler is the current head coach of the Florida Gators women's basketball team of the University of Florida.- Career :...

 replaced Peck for the 2007–08 season. Peck wasn't out of basketball for long, however: ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 hired her as a basketball analyst
College Basketball on ESPN
College Basketball on ESPN is a presentation of the college basketball television package on the ESPN family of networks. The television network broadcasts games of all the major conferences and many mid-major conferences of Division I NCAA basketball....

within months.

Peck's younger brother Michael served as one of her assistant coaches both with the Orlando Miracle and at the University of Florida.

External links

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